Recipes: Desserts Posts

As a child, I was never really all that into pumpkin pie. I guess I just took it for granted… it simply showed up on the thanksgiving table, I ate it, and that was it for the year.

This is the recipe that changed my mind. I now crave pumpkin pie (almost) 365 days a year. The filling is amazing, but it’s the handmade whipped cream, blended with pie spices, that really does it for me. It’s like pie on top of pie… just… fluffier. And whiter. Anyway, what I am trying to say is that this pie is good, and you should make it. I could come up with some crisp, colorful fall language or something for this post, but—honestly—this is homemade pumpkin pie and whipped cream. It sells itself.

Making a reasonably good crepe at home is not only possible, it’s not even all that difficult. You’ll just need a skillet with shallow sides, basic ingredients, and some patience when you inevitably screw them up once in a while.

When we came back from the farmer’s market a few days ago with a box of the reddest, ripest strawberries we had seen for months, I knew crepes were going on the menu. I also thought it would be a good opportunity to post about how to make your own crepes at home.

Simple, baked cookies with fresh lemon zest and just a bit of oatmeal mixed in. So good, even my wife liked them (and she hates sweets). For all the fancy dessert recipes out there, these little crispy cookies, along with a cup of tea or a glass of ice cold milk, are pretty hard to beat.

Late to the royal wedding and what to do… I’ve missed the opportunity to post some timely British recipes and the wedding is now yesterday’s news. Oh, well. Eton Mess is still worth talking about. This is just a lovely fresh dessert that takes all of a few minutes to prepare.

Love lemon? Sure you do; who doesn’t. Anyway, here’s a way to use the fresh zest and squeezed juice to completely infuse a cake with lemony goodness. Plus you will get to use that fancy microplane you have been itching to pull out of the drawer.

As I am discovering more and more, soufflés don’t have to be complicated. These are so easy and just really, really good. The chocolate base is so moist and satisfying! I thought of just adding some orange zest to a basic chocolate souffle recipe and the results were excellent, so try this out.

Pumpkin pie is almost unavoidable during the fall. Not so bad, because it tastes great and really feels like the season.

This fall is turning out quite nice in my view – I have a new job that I love, the weather has been great and my wife and I are finally feeling settled in to our house that we bought almost two years ago (we even got some paint on the walls). The garden is mostly done but still producing a few things (rosemary and peppers mainly); I don’t know how long that will last. The air is picking up that familiar chill, and leaves are starting to turn their colors.

“They`re professionals at this in Russia, so no matter how many Jell-O shots or Jager shooters you might have downed at college mixers, no matter how good a drinker you might think you are, don`t forget that the Russians - any Russian - can drink you under the table.”~ Anthony Bourdain